Coastal Arts Guild hosts Roumagoux

Posted Sep 26, 2019

Artist and previous mayor to speak at Oct. luncheon

The Coastal Arts Guild (CAG) is proud to present one of Newport’s own extraordinary artists and previous mayor, Sandy Roumagoux as our speaker for the October luncheon. The luncheon will be held on Oct. 3 in the second- floor classroom of the Visual Arts Center, located in Nye Beach. Doors open at 11 a.m. and the program will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch.

Roumagoux will be speaking about her journey as an artist and how her work has evolved over the years. As a native Oregonian, she was born in Yakima, Wash. and raised on a farm near Camp Adair in the Willamette Valley. After completing her B.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas, she returned to Oregon and Newport in 1985.

The subjects from her paintings are influenced by her growing up experiences on a farm, where she was raised by a family consisting of avid environmentalists and gun lovers.

Roumagoux states that her paintings are her interpretation of the ever-relevant paradoxes of faith, war and nature.

“Much of what I do in predicated upon the personal fundamental acceptance of the ‘divine absurdities’ of existence and the dualities in our existence of love/hate, violence/peace, silent/sound, night/day,” said Roumagoux. “I focus on our cultures’ abuse of the environment, our love affair with greed, our throw away consumerism and our sanitizing of violence. These abuses are glossed over with religious platitudes. I’ve been called political, but I don’t know how to separate politics from art. Both ask something of us, something that challenges us to a responsibility. Painter or political, we come as candidates. We want our message to resonate with the body politic, with the voters. We make promises”

There is often great sophistication in her paintings, illustrating the point that what may at first appear simple will reward the viewer who lingers that extra moment and discovers the deeper beauty present in her work. The almost naïve spontaneity of expression and understated sophistication, along with a genuine beauty of her rich color sense will draw you in.

Roumagoux has exhibited her work throughout Oregon including Blackfish Gallery, Portland; Oregon State University, Corvallis; Clackamas Community College, Oregon City; Jacobs Gallery-Hult Center, Eugene; and the Fine Arts Centr, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

For additional information and an invitation to attend the CAG’s luncheon, call Mary Holt 541-765-4599. Seating is limited. There is a suggested donation of $10 for the luncheon for non-members.